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SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGNResearch Unit for Modern Architecture Studies in Southeast Asia
Foundation of Natural Build Environments (FNBE)
English 2 [ENGL0205]
STATIONERY BUSINESS
GROUP MEMBERS:
ALVIN TAN SHING YEOU (0314850)EUGENE PENG YAP SIANG (0315259)BENNY TAN SHOWIE (0315447)CHAN PIN QI (0314676) MACY KHOR SEEM LENG (0315208)LEE JO YEE (0314880)
- More than just pencils selling -
Stationery Business: more than pencils selling
ContentsINTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION OF RESEARCH PROJECT.............................................................................3
INTRODUCTION OF STATIONERY SHOP...............................................................................3
KEY SUMMARY.........................................................................................................................4
THE HISTORY OF THE STATIONERY BUSINESS...........................................................................5
DOWN-SLOPE BUSINESS......................................................................................................5
BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF THE BUSINESS:....................................................................6
HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP...............................................................................................6
TEE SENG SDN BHD..............................................................................................................7
VISION ART...........................................................................................................................8
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BUSINESSES’ COMPETITIVE TRAITS.....................................9
VISION ART...........................................................................................................................9
TEE SENG SDN BHD............................................................................................................10
HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP.............................................................................................10
CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................11
RECOMMENDATION...............................................................................................................13
VISION ART.........................................................................................................................13
TEE SENG SDN BHD............................................................................................................13
HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP.............................................................................................13
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................15
APPENDICES............................................................................................................................16
APPENDICES 1 : PHOTO......................................................................................................16
VISION ART.....................................................................................................................16
TEE SENG........................................................................................................................20
HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP..........................................................................................23
APPENDICES 2: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS....................................................28
APPENDICES 3: THE DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE 3 BUSINESS.............37
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION OF RESEARCH PROJECTThe main focus of this assignment was to compare the similarities
and contrasting differences of three specific business . We will be
doing a research on stationery shop ,focusing on three very-owned
stationary shop in Subang Jaya, Kuala Lumpur which are Vision Art
& Stationery shop , Tee Seng Sdn Bhd and PJS 7 Stationary shop .
This aim of this research project is to compare the alter business
strategies used by different owners respectively. We will mainly
enquire about their history and the differences of how the business
has been operating between now and then. (Home: Categories:
Education and Communications :Research and Review, 2014)
INTRODUCTION OF STATIONERY SHOPStationery shop is a place where you can find a large range pens,
paper, envelopes , ink toners and other supplies for home or
office .Stationery has historically pertained to a wide gamut of
materials: paper and office supplies, writing implements, greeting
cards, glue, pencil cases and other similar items. The usage and
marketing of stationery is a niche industry that is increasingly
threatened by electronic media. As stationery is intrinsically linked
to paper and the process of written, personalized communication,
many techniques of stationery manufacture are employed, of
varying desirability and expense. (Hannon, 2013)
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KEY SUMMARY Through research and interview, we have investigated various stationary shops dotted around Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus and thus understanding this particular market current condition. In order to have a fairer analysis of the market, the investigation subjects were carefully selected prior to the interview. One shop is located within the Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus while the other two is located outside of the campus. The two shops located outside of campus are selected to contrast each other. Vision Art is found to be the most successful of all three shops. Various factors are discovered to be playing an integral part in its success. One of the deciding factors is the strategic location of the shops which ensure its exposure and widen its range of customers. Pricing is also important as the market has a nature of oligopoly, magnifying the price differences between the shops. It is also because of the market oligopoly nature that competition is very furious and it is very difficult to venture into the market.
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THE HISTORY OF THE STATIONERY BUSINESS
DOWN-SLOPE BUSINESS Nowadays, the stationary manufacture sector is filled with 60% from China 30% from Japan & 10% from others like Malaysia, Thailand, and etc. (Sheng, 2013)
Before 1980s, global market was just local manufacture and not much of international trade. In the decade of the 1990’s the world is entering a period of economic prosperity and China as well. Due to low labor cost and higher productivity, China increase production from small portion to at least 10-15% raise per year. (Reportlinker : Customer Goods and Service)
The market now is divided into two main sections, high quality product by advance country & lower quality product by growing economy. Malaysia’s manufacturer was eliminated since 2000’s, because of higher labor cost and only the higher quality manufacturer survived.
Stepping into internet era, the retailing market competition increases gradually into free trade with the growth of online trader. Retail success is no longer all about physical stores, due to the increases in retailers now offering online store interfaces for consumers.
With the rapid growth of online shopping, comes a wealth of new market footprint coverage opportunities for online dealer that can offshore market demands and service requirements, like more specific product that can only be found through online market
In a nut shell, local stationary industry face two major challenges since 1990’s, which are global competitors and flexibility of online dealers.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF THE BUSINESS:
Before we go for the interview, we have done some background research about this three stationery shops through various channel such as on-site observation, books, verbal surveys from the residents and etc. Below are our findings.
HENG CO STATIONERY SHOPThe first shop is an old traditional stationery shop situated at
Jalan PJS 7/15 known as Heng Co stationery shop. It is a 6062 ft small shop below the residential flats and operated from morning 11am to 7pm evening. At the entrance, there are some toy vending machines, that kind where you slot in coins in exchange for a mysterious toy wrapped in a plastic ball-like casing and also a big ice cream machines there. For a moment, you will most probably feel like you have traveled back in time because of these vintage furniture. Furthermore, most of the furniture such as the book shelves, racks, bamboo chairs, tables and wardrobes were handmade by the owner’s father and has a very high sentimental value. The shop is not occupied with any high technology electronics appliances but just a traditional ceiling fan in a shabby condition. Although the products are kept inside the glass-shielded counter, it is not hard to notice some have covered with dust and even yellowed with age.
After some conversation between the owner, Mrs.Chang Lin Lee and our group members who are Benny Tan and Lee Jo Yee, we have learned that the shop not only sell stationery but provide basic sewing service too. Mrs. Chang The shop sold hardware products previously but slowly has stopped because lack of demand in this particular area. She serves around 10 customers per day with most of them are students from the nearby primary school and some elderly residents nearby.
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Speaking of the history, the business has started back to 1960 when it was situated at Sungai Wang Tin Ming upon the request from the British rulers. The local ruler of that time was an English man and has asked the owner’s mother, Mrs. Khor Sai Ngoh to open a stationery shop for the convenience of the villagers at the area. With the fear being punished, her family has accepted the model provided by the British and opened a shop obediently. Mrs.Khor passed away after 3 years the shop was established and has her husband and 18 years old Mrs Chang Lin Lee to continue the business. The business grew rapidly and earn a great amount of profit back then until 1990s when they were forced to move to PJS 7 due to the demolition of the area in order to build more double-story houses. (TN), 1966)
TEE SENG SDN BHDThe second shop is situated at a strategic location which is
situated inside Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, the Tee Seng Sdn Bhd. From the appearance, the shop looks small and seems to have nothing to offer other than some basic pens and papers; you will be fooled if you believe so. Upon stepping inside the shop, you will be welcomed by the owner, a 55 years old friendly looking uncle, Mr. Loo Tee Seng. With another 2 employees a girl from South-Africa and a local boy, he sells stationery and provides Photostat, printing and binding services to their main customer source which is the Taylor’s University community. They serve around 50 customers per day with most of them are students, lecturers, school officers and clerks. The shop is fully air-conditioned and the products are neatly arranged in shelves or hung on racks. The uncle keeps an eye on the hygiene of the store all the time and makes sure that his customers queue up for the printing service during peak hours.
From the interview between our group members Macy Khor
and Chan Pin Qi and Mr.Loo, we have learned that before the shop
was established together with Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus
in 2011, the owner Mr.Loo worked with his brother in a stationary
shop located at KL Jalan Ampang in 1996. Back then, it was a huge
business where their customers are mostly large cooperation
companies. They have signed contracts and have great business
cooperation with those big cooperations. He shared his experience
by telling us the importance of strategy location of the business and
also the specialty of the business you provide to the customer.
Their specialty field was providing binding services like binding of
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books or magazine as there were a lot of engineering firm around
their location back then. After working with his brother for more
than 20 years, he decided to retire from his work and find a more
relaxing work to pass his time as his daughter and son were all
grown up .In 2010, he meet his old friend, Datuk Loy, the owner of
the Taylor’s University and was notified that there was shop lots in
the commercial block available for him to start his stationary shop
business. Initially, the business did not go very well as most of the
students were not relocated in this new campus (Taylor Lakeside
University campus). However, for the next 2 years, the business
has showed great improvement because of the increase in the
student population along with the improvement in Malaysia
economics. (Country Intelligence: Report: Malaysia., 2013)
VISION ARTAlvin Tan and Eugene Peng have been assigned to interview
another well-known stationery shop known as “Vision Art” which is situated at 3, Jalan PJS 11/28,Bandar Sunway, 46150, Petaling Jaya is another favorite spot for art students around Bandar Sunway. Other than the Singaporean investor Mr. James, the founders and also the owner of the shop Mr. Franky and Mrs. Winny Hiau welcome around 150 customers everyday with most of them from Sunway University, The One Academy and Taylor’s University. With only 3 Malay female employees, they sell mainly stationery and vast options of art materials and provide Photostat and binding service. There are many choices The one and only Vision Art has most of their products up to date and they are nicely arranged on the book shelves and situated in a specific area so that students may help themselves in searching their desired materials. The shop is also fully air-conditioned and occupied with close-circuit televisions (CCTV) to ensure the security in the shop.
After having a quick chat with Mr.Franky, we have learned that the history of the business can be traced back to the period from 1994 to 1997 when they had been introduced to a stationery supplier and decided to start a small shop in PJS state with the target customer are the students of Saito Academic of Art College. Starting with a very small model and without much expectation, the business grew and earned more profit than they have expected and eventually require a bigger venue. They moved to Bandar Sunway at 1998 and the number of customers has increased since from
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previously 80% students vs 20% outsiders to now 50% students vs 50% outsiders. Outsiders are some office workers, professional artists, photographers, lecturers and so on.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BUSINESSES’ COMPETITIVE TRAITS
As fellow architecture students, we understand the
importance of stationeries and various art tools in our pursuit of
our career. In this research assignment, we made these stationary
shops as our interview subjects. We analyze the business’s
competitive traits of these shops, which are namely Vision Art,
Heng Co and Tee Seng.
VISION ARTOut of these three shops, Vision Art has 20 years history and
thus more experienced in this particular field. As the business go
on, the goods and services provided diversified as well. The shops
has started giving printing and binding service but these services
face furious competition as more and more professional printing
shops emerge in vicinity. They can only depend on the cheaper
price and faster speed as they stand no chance in the battle of
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quality against these shops. As per their printing and binding
service, they applied the same strategy on their goods as well. They
lower the price of their goods according to the customers’
feedbacks and demands. Their strategy is to attract customers with
their cheaper price vast diversity of goods.
Most of their customers are art students from nearby
universities and working designers. This is the one of the
immediate causes of its goods diversification towards art tools. This
specialization is one of its advantages as these goods are not very
common. Another advantage is the well-trained employees. They
are familiar with all the goods and their purpose and other detailed
information. They provide advice and left a good impression in the
customers that are unfamiliar with these goods. As such, the shop
is frequently promoted through words from others and gained a
strong reputation, especially in the nearby universities.
However, these art tools are also rather expensive, thus it is
hard to just rely on these art tools alone. On the other hand, the
more common goods such as A4 papers and pens face more
competition from many others shops around area SS 15. Another
major disadvantage is the location of the shop. There are very few
numbers of parking lots around the shop so it is really difficult for
people to stop by and stay for a long time.
TEE SENG SDN BHD Comparatively, Tee Seng Sdn Bhd has the shortest history
among the three shops. However, the owner has experience
running a stationary shop before opening this shop in Taylor’s
University lakeside Campus. Since this shop was establish as pass
time business, the owner does really care about the present
competition and hence no strategy is used. The pricing is higher
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than the stationary shops outside of the campus because of the
higher rental.
The shop also provides printing and binding service. It faces
competition from other printing and binding service within the
campus and outside of the campus. Its printing service is especially
unprofitable because of the good printing service provided by the
library. It is more student-friendly and better in quality as well with
same price. The variety of the goods in the shop is also very limited
that students have to go outside to get required art tools. This is
most likely due to the small space of the shop that inhibited the
shop’s further development.
The shop’s only advantage against other stationary shops is
its location which is within the university compound, making it
more convenient for the students as no transportation is needed.
The numbers of students in the university is also steadily
increasing.
HENG CO STATIONERY SHOPHeng Co has the longest history among the three shops but it
can be categorized as sunset business at that area. The owner is
the 2nd generation of the business and wish to continue the
business as pass time business. Therefore, there is no strategy to
use at the shop and the price is lower than the other stationary
shop because it doesn’t have to pay the rental fee. It doesn’t have
printing and binding service as other shop but it provided sewing
service to the old customer.
One of its advantages is the short walking distance to the
residents in the area since it situated in the residential area. The
main source of customer is student from primary and secondary
school. This is one of the main causes of the cheaper price goods.
Another advantage is the cheaper price of goods, the goods are
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generally cheaper than other stationary shops at the same business
area. For example, the manila card it sells with RM 0.60 but the
other shop sells RM 1.00.
Since their profit is less than RM50 per day, the owner is
selling breakfast in the morning market before the stationary shop
start operation. I think this is the strategy for the business and
owner herself. Previously, the stall is situated in front of the
stationary shop, so it brings the customer to the shop but it has
moved to the morning market nearby after getting complain of
blocking the parking places.
CONCLUSION(Blais, 2012)
In conclusion, the Vision Art is the most successful among the
three stationary shops because of its diversity of goods and
cheaper price whereas Tee Seng Sdn Bhd has highest pricing,
albeit, the nearest and most convenient but Heng Co. stationary
shop has lowest pricing, near and convenient to the resident
around. Other than Heng Co. stationary shop, Vision Art and Tee
Send Sdn Bhd both manage to get an annual revenue figure of
more than RM 1,000,000. With just the advantage of location alone,
Tee Seng Sdn Bhd was able get on par with Vision Art. Tee Seng
Sdn Bhd with only 3 years old is also very much younger than
Vision Art which is 20 years old. Furthermore, Heng Co. stationary
shop is 54 years old but its revenue isn’t much if compare to them.
The effect of location of a business is clearly shown in this scenario.
Although Vision Art and Heng Co are not placed in a
university, but Vision Art has a pretty good location. It is located in
the vicinity of Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall and a residential
area. Heng Co is located near the Pangsapuri Mutiara Perdana in
PJS 7. Vision Art possesses higher exposure to the public compare
to Tee Seng Sdn Bhd which is confined in the university and Heng
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Co which is confined in the residential area. Outsiders are less
likely to travel to a university compound to purchase stationeries.
Both of Vision Art and Tee Seng Sdn Bhd adopted the same
strategy with their pricing but Tee Seng Sdn Bhd has got a slight
disadvantage due to its higher rental price. However, Heng Co has
the cheapest pricing due to the shop is owned by itself.
Nonetheless, Vision Art has more diversified and specialized goods
that attract students with more advanced demands. Therefore, it
has a wider range of customers which allows it to triumph over
others easily. They are not just limited to the students of one
university or primary and secondary school as Tee Seng Sdn Bhd
and Heng Co , instead they are consisted of students from different
universities and many other sources.
All three of the stationary shops basically face similar
competitors but the number of strong competitors is very
negligible. The market has a nature of oligopoly. All three of the
shops entered this market with different methods. The owner of
Vision Art has established relationship with good suppliers while
the owner of Tee Seng Sdn Bhd has prior working experience.
These are just the basic criteria to enter the market. Even with all
the criteria fulfilled, it is still very hard to enter the market due to
its oligopoly nature. Unless it can establish a good reputation
among the local communities and insure a good amount of
customers in a short time, the business will last for long.
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RECOMMENDATION (Bharadwaj, Anandhi ; El Sawy, Omar A ; Pavlou, Paul A. ; Venkatraman, N., 2013)
VISION ART Limited space in Vision Art has become the biggest problem in running the business. It is always filled up with customer but will never get enough space to move around. Imagine when people carrying the materials that are large in scale moving around the shop. Besides, stocks are piled up until the ceiling. It will be a threat when people walking by in the risk of goods falling down. Therefore, larger space is needed to fit in the customers and the stocks existed.
Other than larger space is recommended, student price discount is also a preferable way of running a stationery business in the area of various university existed. Student who have zero income and still gaining financial support from their parents will find it a burden for monthly expense especially architecture or design school students which need variety of materials from different price range. Therefor, price should be lower down when comes to students. (NIEMAND, 2013)
TEE SENG SDN BHDTee Seng is now encountering a threat, which then affect its business performance, which is the rental. The rental here has reached its high peak until RM 4000 per month excluding the electricity and maintenance fee, therefore, the pricing will be a bit higher compare to others which then lose his customer. Price should be a standard price and figure out another way of solving the rental problem.
The goods in Tee Seng are founded not sufficient when comes to modeling. More variety of goods is recommended for the shop in order to increase its profit. This will then be a preferable place for students, as no travel is needed.
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HENG CO STATIONERY SHOPThe maintenance of shop lot structure is recommended to improve. As shop lot has been standing for over few decades, it is already old and full of dust. Running a business should have a good impression for customers in order to attract them. That’s why it should start renovation of the shop if the business wants to be continued. If the business is not meant to continue, a promotion is needed to clear its stock out and gain back the cost of running it.
Besides, the arrangement of goods being displayed is a biggest problem in attracting the customers, as it does not look like a stationery shop. People tend to ignore the shop, as it is nothing that can let them know there’s a business running inside. Moreover, old furniture like altar and the Rotan chair are recommended to be discarded from the shop as they should not be them who becoming the focus of the business instead of the stationery. If the sticks are placed in a neat way, customers can notice the goods easier, the performance increase, and yet it still has the chance of surviving in this competitive business. (Nazari & Allahyar, 2012)
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BIBLIOGRAPHYBharadwaj, Anandhi ; El Sawy, Omar A ; Pavlou, Paul A. ; Venkatraman, N. (2013). DIGITAL BUSINESS STRATEGY: TOWARD A NEXT GENERATION OF INSIGHTS. TOWARD A NEXT GENERATION OF INSIGHTS. , 471-482.
Blais, S. (2012). Business Analysis : Best Practices for Success. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Press .
(2013). Country Intelligence: Report: Malaysia. Malaysia: Malaysia Country Monitor.
Hannon, K. (2013, October ). Money. The Write Stuff , p. p29.
Home: Categories: Education and Communications :Research and Review. (2014, February 10th). Retrieved February 10th, 2014, from www.wikihow.com: http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Research-Paper
Nazari, A., & Allahyar, N. (2012). Grammar Teaching Revisited. EFL Teachers between Grammar Abstinence and Formal Grammar Teaching , 16.
NIEMAND, T. (2013). 7 DEADLY SINS OF BUSINESS OWNERS. p49-49.
Reportlinker : Customer Goods and Service. (n.d.). Retrieved February 2nd , 2014, from Reportlinker web site: http://www.reportlinker.com/ci02159/Office-Supply-and-Stationery.html
Sheng, L. P. (2013, December 8th). Several Trends Affect Future Stationery Development. Retrieved February 9th, 2014, from http://www.made-in-china.com/: http://resources.made-in-china.com/article/industry-trends/amYQdItOTnif/Several-Trends-Affect-Future-Stationery-Development/
TN), J. L. (1966). Small business problems in urban areas. Government Document.
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APPENDICES
APPENDICES 1 : PHOTO
VISION ART
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Figure 1: Front view of Vision Art stationery shop outside Sunway Pyramid shopping complex.
Figure 2: Picture of Alvin and one of the owners of Vision Art, Mr. Franky.
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Figure 3: Picture of worker serving customer and recommending the product which suitable for the customer.
Figure 4: Rack of putting variety of papers at the end of the shop.
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Figure 5: The other side of Vision Art, which rented to a telecommunication shop.
Figure 6: rack of Kure pen in variety of colors.
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TEE SENG
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Figure 8: Front view of Tee Seng stationery shop.
Figure 13: Picture of Macy and the owner, Tee Seng.
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Figure 9: rack of pen being sold
Figure 10: Little corner, which acts as counter.
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Figure 11: Two binding machine in the shop.
Figure 12: Variety of tape being hanged for easier approach.
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HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP
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Figure 15: Owner of the Pjs shop.
Figure 14: Side view of Pjs 7 shop.
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Figure 16: Old radio being displayed at the corner of the shop.
Figure 17: Pictures of sewing machine.
Figure 18: Old cupboards which fill up the stock.
Figure 19: Place where act as guardian for their business. Figure 20: cupboard of stocking products, which lack of sale.
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Figure 20: Old stuff being stacked in a messy way. Figure 21: Toy machine outside the shop to attract children.
Figure 22: Fridge selling ice cream.Figure 23: Accessories of daily stuff also being sold instead of stationery such as battery.
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Figure 24: Picture of Benny and the owner.
Figure 25: Picture of Joyee and the owner.
Stationery Business: more than pencils selling
APPENDICES 2: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
NAME OF THE SHOP : VISION ART
DATE : 3 /1/2014
TIME : 1.00 p.m to 2.30 p.m
INTERVIEWER : Alvin Tan & Eugene Peng
Front view of Vision Art stationery shop outside Sunway Pyramid shopping complex.
1. When was the business founded and who are the key founders?
- Started since 1994, with 3 founders, Franky 52 years old, Winny 46 years old, James 57 years old from Singapore.
- James as the main investor, he invest the money since 20 years ago and never invest anymore, just share the profit yearly.
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2. What prompted the founders to start this business?
- Reason start up business, mainly to find a business which can make money, and know where to find the source. (friend introduce them a stationary supplier)
3. What are your main products?
- Main product are material & stationary, mainly retailing and servicing (Photostat & binding)
4. Who are your customers?
- Average of 150 customer per day
5. Can you provide us a brief history of your business and its most recent developments?
- Started with very small model with a small shop in PJS state during 1994-1997 because they targeted Saito Academic of Art College student. But move to Bandar Sunway at 1998 because they aim for a better market, The One Academy College student. Result is better and profit of business increase and bigger model.
- The customer source increase especially outsider. From 80% student vs 20%outsider increase to 50% student vs 50% outsider. Average of 50 customer increase to 150 customer per day.
6. Is the business constantly facing strong competition from other competitors? What strategies have they used to compete with you?
-Price setting is mainly by reflection of the product sales, and also customer feedback, will adjust the pricing once the certain product sales is not good (not always happen, as long as reasonable price setting strategy). Price setting is not depending on competitors.
7. How do you compete with your competitors i.e. what strategies do you employ to divert customers away from your competitors?
- Strategy to stock their stock, once the product finish, boss will call the supplier, not really have fix period like order once a month, or order twice a month, its all depends on how much stock left. Will stock more if better
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selling product. Supplier will introduce them new product, hence no research needed.
- Main competitors are from nearby and online shops, nearby – SS15 stationary shop & Shah Alam section 2 stationary shop.
- But they don’t do much of market survey and research, never visit any stationary shop for special purpose.
8. Are your pricing decisions strongly affected by your competitors?
- Strategy to stock their stock, once the product finish, boss will call the supplier, not really have fix period like order once a month, or order twice a month, its all depends on how much stock left. Will stock more if better selling product. Supplier will introduce them new product, hence no research needed.
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NAME OF THE SHOP : TEE SENG STATIONERY SHOP ( Taylor’s commercial block )
DATE : 10 /1/2014
TIME : 3.00 p.m to 5.15 p.m
INTERVIEWER : Khor Seem Leng & Pinky Chan
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Front view of Tee Seng stationery shop.
1. Can you provide us a brief history of your business and its most
recent developments?
- Loo Tee Seng ,the founder of this stationary shop graduated from
one of the university in UK in 1985 with a degree in
economics .After he graduated ,he travel for a few years and
studying about the psychology of human beings .He learned about
the attitude of human being ,get to know more about the mentality
of society .He then work with his brother in a stationary shop
located at KL Jalan Ampang in 1996 .Back then ,it was a huge
business where their customer are mostly large cooperation
company. They also did have a lot of contract with big cooperation
company ,running a big business back then. He also did stress on
the importance of strategy location of the business and also the
specialty of the business you provide to the customer .Their
specialty field was providing binding services like binding of books
or magazine as there were a lot of engineering firm around their
location back then .After working with his brother for more than 20
years ,he decided to retire from his work and find a more relaxing
work to pass his time as his daughter and son were all grown up .In
2010 ,he meet his old friend ,Datuk Loy that is going to launch a
new Taylor campus that is Taylor University Lakeside
campus .With the connection he have with Datuk Loy ,he rented
one of the shop lot in the commercial block to start his stationary
shop business .That is where his business start to operate when
Taylor’s university started three years ago. The initial year of the
business did not really progress well as not all the students are
relocated in this new campus ( Taylor Lakeside University
campus ).However, for the next 2 years ,the progress of the
business were establishing because of the population of students
start to increase but then competitors start to invade in .The
business were establishing quite slowly due to the space of the
shop and the increase rate of competitors.
2. Do you have many competitors? Who are they? Who are your top 3
competitors?
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- Yes ,the shop besides his shop selling a few kind of stationary
products ,the library and the shop near Student life center .All of
them are doing quite similar business such as providing binding
and printing services .
3. Is the business constantly facing strong competition from other
competitors? What strategies have they used to compete with you?
- Yes , lower pricing ,conveniency ( library –improve their facilities by
having dropbox for smartphones )
4. How much capital is required to start this business? What, if any,
specialized field of knowledge do you need to run this business?
- RM 150,000. According to Mr. Loo, do not need any specific
knowledge to run his business. Only thing need to know about is
where to get the suppliers and some basic knowledge to the machine
being used. Previously, in his young age, he had been practicing the
binding book service when he was operating his old stationary shop
beside KLCC where there’s lots of engineering firm at the area.
Besides, knowledge of managing human resources is very essential in
running this business. Worker being trained and left the shop
happened very common in Tee Sheng shop. As it is a less challenging
job, people tend to leave while they have gained certain basic
knowledge on how to manage the printing machine.
5. Generally, do you feel it is easy or hard to enter this market?
Why?
- It is hard to enter this market because the competition out there is
much more stronger than imagined. One cannot stand still in this
business if they are not competitive enough.
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Stationery Business: more than pencils selling
6. How do you compete with your competitors i.e. what strategies do
you employ to divert customers away from your competitors?
- Actually, in the state of just want to settle down and passing time
through retirement, there are no strategies being used to divert
customers away from the competitors. Customers have the right to
choose where they prefer. However, because of its location is at the
commercial block, people tend to buy things there. Therefore, the
location will be their only strategy to attract people. However, some
who are studying at the academic block will find it inconvenient to
buy things there.
7. How often do you release a new product (this assumes the
business sells differentiated products)?
- Once or twice a year will introduce new products. He tried his best in
introducing variety of products in order to increase the business
performance and keep them updated.
8. Are your pricing decisions strongly affected by your competitors?
The competitors do not affect the pricing decision here. It is the rental who
affect. The price will be higher compare to the competitors as cost used for
the rental and maintenance of machine is high. As the owner does not care
about how much he earned, it is oaky for students to choose others rather
than him.
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Stationery Business: more than pencils selling
NAME OF THE SHOP : HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP
DATE : 8 /1/2014
TIME : 1.00 p.m to 2.30 p.m
INTERVIEWER : Benny Tan & Lee Jo Yee
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Stationery Business: more than pencils selling
Side view of Heng Co stationery shop .
1. When was the business founded and who are the key founders?
- Started since 1960, with founders, Khor Sai Ngoh
- British boss of tin mining as the main sponsor, he sponsor the money for the shop opening to the founder.
2. What prompted the founders to start this business?
- Reason start up business, mainly is asked by the British boss of tin mining to give benefit, advantage and convenient to the villagers at that time.
3. What are your main products?
- Main products are thread, stationary, rope, hardware (stop selling)
4. Who are your customers?
- Mainly are student from primary and secondary school nearby the shop in the residential area.
5. Can you provide us a brief history of your business and its most recent developments?
- 1960s, Khor Sai Ngoh started business at sungai wang tin mining by the sponsor of British boss of the tin mining. The target customer is the villagers from the area. Her husband and son continue her business after 3 years. 1990s, moved to Pjs 7 because the government want to demolish the previous place to build double story houses. The business revenue decrease day by day and now only maintain the shop operation, not for earning.
- The customer source is 90% come from the nearby primary and secondary school due to the cheap pricing, 10% come from the resident nearby.
6. Is the business constantly facing strong competition from other competitors? What strategies have they used to compete with you?
-No, price setting is mainly cheaper compare to others shop since the owner just want to maintain the shop
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Stationery Business: more than pencils selling
- Main competitors are from a nearby stationary shop.
7. Are your pricing decisions strongly affected by your competitors?
- Not really, just maintain the cheap and reasonable pricing
APPENDICES 3: THE DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE 3 BUSINESS.
VISION ART TEE SENG SDN
BHD
HENG CO.
PRICING Reasonable Highest Lowest
STRATEGY Yes No No
LOCATION Excellent Good Bad
GOODS
VARIETY
Diversified Limited Limited
RENTAL PRICE Reasonable High None
NUMBER OF
EMPLOYEES
3 2 0
ANNUAL
REVENUE
Highest High Lowest
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SHOPSAREA
S